A PEICE of lifesaving equipment has been unveiled outside a Newport primary school, after a fundraising appeal smashed its target.
Earlier this year, Newport mum Kate Inwood started a fundraising appeal to install a defibrillator in the Jubilee Park area of the city, having been inspired by her own frightening experience a decade ago.
Then, following the harrowing scenes in the summer, when Danish footballer Christian Eriksen went into cardiac arrest on live television, Ms Inwood took action, ramping up her fundraising efforts.
And, following that successful campaign, a defibrillator has now been installed on the exterior wall of Jubilee Park Primary School.
When news of the initial campaign was first published in the Argus, it attracted a significant amount of attention – including a cabinet to house the life saving equipment being donated by Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd.
And, as a result of the additional support, enough money was raised to install two further defibrillators.
One of these is set to be located at the Fourteen Locks Visitors Centre, while the other will be located in a location in the Rogerstone area of the city to be determined.
What’s more, in 2022, CPR, and defibrillator training will be carried out for 50 residents in the Jubilee Park area, which will be hosted by Rogerstone Council, and carried out for free by Calon Defibrillators.
How did we get here?
Speaking to the Argus earlier this year, Ms Inwood revealed that the journey towards unveiling this equipment started a decade earlier, when she went into heart failure just three months after giving birth to her son.
She revealed that the warning signs were first spotted after starting to wake up early in the morning feeling breathless.
Ms Inwood said: “I’ve always been fit, healthy and active, but three months after I had my son I was waking up early in the morning feeling breathless.
“I was also getting terrible dead legs, like I was wearing concrete boots, so I made an appointment to see a doctor.
“I also googled my symptoms - which you should never do - which said I could have heart failure. Imagine the terror, being a new mum and thinking that.
“My lungs were fine, but I went to see a cardiologist too, who confirmed that I would need a pacemaker with a defibrillator built in.
“The first operation wasn’t successful - the wires came out. The pacemaker is supposed to send data by satellite to the US, and back to Cardiff, but I received a phone call to tell me that all four wires had come out.
“A cardiac nurse told me that if the second operation didn’t go well, I would need a heart transplant. At this time, I was going to bed worrying about not waking up.
“The second operation was a success, and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world”.
It is estimated that the survival rate of a person in cardiac arrest drops from 70 per cent when defibrillated, to just seven per cent without – and Ms Inwood, who’s son also attends Jubilee Park school, says she wants to give people in her neighbourhood the best fighting chance of survival, should the unthinkable happen.
“It is definitely a cause that’s close to my heart - literally.
“I’m no longer allowed to swim alone, I can’t stand too close to a microwave, and I was told I can’t have any more children because it would kill me. But I still feel lucky.
“Using a defibrillator literally takes seconds to do, and it’s so lifesaving.
“Jubilee Park is a fairly new community with lots of young families, but it is something that can affect any person at any time.”
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